EU chief, Cypriot president meet Mikati, Berri over refugee crisis

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides met Thursday with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Grand Serail.

Army chief Joseph Aoun and Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib also attended the meeting.

Christodoulides and von der Leyen later met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el Tineh.

The Cypriot president had visited Lebanon on April 8 alongside his country's interior and foreign ministers and army chief, shortly after he urged the EU to intercede with Lebanese authorities to help stop boatloads of Syrian refugees from heading to Cyprus.

Lebanon — which is coping with a crippling economic crisis since 2019 — hosts some 805,000 U.N.-registered Syrian refugees, of which 90% live in poverty, the U.N.’s refugee agency says. Lebanese officials estimate the actual number is far higher, ranging between 1.5 and 2 million. Many have escaped the civil war in their country which entered its 14th year.